Coronavirus: Government will brief public daily on outbreak
The government will now hold a daily press conference to brief the public on the coronavirus outbreak, Downing Street has said.
Number 10 had come in for criticism over the weekend over its perceived lack of transparency regarding sharing information about the disease.
As of tomorrow, however, Prime Minister Boris Johnson or another Cabinet minister will update the public as to the steps that they should be taking to protect themselves.
A spokesman for Downing Street said that the government is “committed” to keeping the public informed about its measures to tackle the virus.
In line with previous briefings, on Monday Johnson will be joined by Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s chief medical adviser, and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance.
The speech will follow an emergency meeting of Cobra, which Johnson will chair earlier in the afternoon.
The meeting will discuss the “next steps” on the government’s plans to shield elderly and vulnerable people from the virus, and whether gatherings of a certain size should be banned.
The Prime Minister is also scheduled to have call with the leaders of fellow G7 countries, in which he will urge them to back the World Health Organization’s response.